ABSTRACT
The fundamental task of schools is to create a community where students feel they belong and that their contribution is valued. Schools are communities whose very nature is based upon collaboration, cooperation and mutual support, and every day they perform minor miracles in shaping the lives of young people. In fulfilment of their role in fostering youth development, and buffering their students from the disturbances of outside events and social conditions, they are continually engaged in support work. Teachers are frequently required to reassure students who are adjusting to a new school environment, as well as respond to students who are upset by peer victimization. Sometimes the events are so distressing that students require counselling intervention. It would be wrong, however, to assume that providing emotional support or counselling is the only way to respond to students needing help. Support of an informational kind is also vitally important, even if these forms of support go unremarked in most writings on the subject. Support is wide-ranging in form, and the task of this chapter is to examine the nature of school support and trace the actions taken by schools to provide support to adolescent students.
